Methods and systems for communications through a slave gateway

Abstract

The present invention discloses methods and systems for transmitting data packets through a plurality of connections and through a gateway at a network node. The network node receives network performance observation report (NPOR) from the gateway. Based on the NPOR, the network node determines at least one of the plurality of wide area network (WAN) interfaces of the gateway for transmitting data packets. The network node then creates and transmits an instruction to the gateway. When the network node transmits the data packets to the gateway, the network node also creates and transmits an instruction to the gateway to determine the WAN interface(s) of the gateway for transmitting the packets.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for transmitting data packets through a plurality of connections and through a gateway at a network node, comprising the steps of:
 (a) receiving network performance observation report (NPOR) from the gateway; 
 (b) determining at least one of a plurality of wide area network (WAN) interfaces of the gateway for transmitting data packets based on the NPOR; 
 (c) creating an instruction, wherein the instruction comprises information for the gateway to determine the at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway for transmitting the data packets; 
 (d) transmitting the instructions to the gateway; 
 (e) transmitting the data packets to the gateway; 
 wherein the gateway operates as a slave gateway; 
 wherein the network node has a plurality of WAN interfaces; and 
 wherein the network node is connected to the gateway through one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the network node and one of local area network (LAN) interfaces of the gateway. 
 
     
     
       2. According to the method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway is a wireless modem. 
     
     
       3. According to the method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one identification request is sent from the network node to the gateway for discovering whether the gateway is operating as a slave gateway and at least one identification confirmation is received by the network node from the gateway for confirming that the gateway is operating as a slave gateway. 
     
     
       4. According to the method of  claim 1 , wherein the NPOR is a detailed NPOR (DNPOR), wherein the DNPOR is received by the network node after the network node has authenticated with the gateway. 
     
     
       5. According to the method of  claim 4 , wherein the DNPOR comprises at least one type of network performance information selected from a group consisting of packet latency, error rates, bit error rates, signal-to-noise ratio, packet error rate and round trip time. 
     
     
       6. According to the method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 (f) determining network performance of connections established through the plurality of WAN interfaces of the network node; 
 (g) determining at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of network nodes for transmitting the data packets according to the NPOR and network performance of connections; and 
 (h) transmitting the data packets through the at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of network nodes determined at step (g); 
 wherein steps (b) to (e) are performed if the data packets are determined to be transmitted through connections established through at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway. 
 
     
     
       7. According to the method of  claim 6 , wherein the connections are aggregated together to form an aggregated virtual private network (VPN) connection. 
     
     
       8. According to the method of  claim 1 , wherein the connections are aggregated together to form an aggregated VPN connection. 
     
     
       9. According to the method of  claim 1 , wherein the gateway is configurable by the network node. 
     
     
       10. According to the method of  claim 9 , further comprising sending configurations to the gateway for configuring the gateway, wherein the configurations are based on the identity of the gateway. 
     
     
       11. A system comprising:
 a gateway, wherein the gateway operates as a slave gateway; 
 a network node, wherein the network node is connected to the gateway through one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the network node and one of local area network (LAN) interfaces of the gateway; and 
 wherein the network node comprises: 
 a plurality of wide area network (WAN) interfaces; 
 at least one main memory; 
 at least one processing unit; 
 at least one secondary storage storing program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for transmitting data packets through a plurality of connections and through the gateway at the network node, comprising the steps of: 
 (a) receiving network performance observation report (NPOR) from the gateway; 
 (b) determining at least one of a plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway for transmitting data packets based on the NPOR; 
 (c) creating an instruction, wherein the instruction comprising information for the gateway to determine the at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway for transmitting the data packets; 
 (d) transmitting the instructions to the gateway; and 
 (e) transmitting the data packets to the gateway. 
 
     
     
       12. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway is a wireless modem. 
     
     
       13. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein at least one identification request is sent from the network node to the gateway for discovering whether the gateway is operating as a slave gateway and at least one identification confirmation is received by the network node from the gateway for confirming that the gateway is operating as a slave gateway. 
     
     
       14. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein the NPOR is a detailed NPOR (DNPOR), wherein the DNPOR is received by the network node after the network node has authenticated with the gateway. 
     
     
       15. According to the system of  claim 14 , wherein the DNPOR comprises at least one type of network performance information selected from a group consisting of packet latency, error rates, bit error rates, signal-to-noise ratio, packet error rate and round trip time. 
     
     
       16. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one secondary storage further storing program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for the steps of:
 (f) determining network performance of connections established through the plurality of WAN interfaces of the network node; 
 (g) determining at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of network nodes for transmitting the data packets according to the NPOR and network performance of connections; 
 (h) transmitting the data packets through the at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of network nodes determined at step (g); 
 wherein steps (b) to (e) are performed if the data packets are determined to be transmitted through connections established through at least one of the plurality of WAN interfaces of the gateway. 
 
     
     
       17. According to the system of  claim 16 , wherein the connections are aggregated together to form an aggregated virtual private network (VPN) connection. 
     
     
       18. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein the connections are aggregated together to form an aggregated VPN connection. 
     
     
       19. According to the system of  claim 11 , wherein the gateway is configurable by the network node. 
     
     
       20. According to the system of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one secondary storage further storing program instructions executable by the at least one processing unit for sending configurations to the gateway for configuring the gateway, wherein the configurations are based on the identity of the gateway.